Electronic music marker device delayed notification

ABSTRACT

Method and system for providing a notification function for bookmarked music clips broadcast over a radio station to provide to a user of an electronic music marking device such that when the playlist for the bookmarked music clips is available, the user can access information corresponding to the bookmarked music clips, while when the playlist for the bookmarked music clips is not available, the user is notified that the playlist is unavailable, and when the playlist becomes available, the an email is generated and transmitted to the user informing the user that the playlist corresponding to the user&#39;s bookmarked music clips is available, and further, the email may include a hypertext link attachment which may be configured to automatically re-direct the user&#39;s browser terminal to display the playlist corresponding to the bookmarked music clips on the user&#39;s electronic music marker device account.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a division of, and claims priority to, applicationSer. No. 09/932,665, filed on Aug. 17, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. ______,incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC

Not Applicable

NOTICE OF MATERIAL SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT PROTECTION

A portion of the material in this patent document is subject tocopyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States andof other countries. The owner of the copyright rights has no objectionto the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or thepatent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent andTrademark Office publicly available file or records, but otherwisereserves all copyright rights whatsoever. The copyright owner does nothereby waive any of its rights to have this patent document maintainedin secrecy, including without limitation its rights pursuant to 37 C. F.R. § 1.14.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to electronic music marker devices. Moreparticularly, the present invention relates to delayed notificationfunction for electronic music marker devices.

2. Description of Related Art

Sony Corporation and its U.S. subsidiary, Sony Electronics, Inc.,introduced an electronic music marker device which is capable of“bookmarking” a music clip while being played on a radio and, which,when synchronized with a gateway device such as a personal computer forconnection to a server terminal for e-marker.com web site, for example,is capable of recalling information related to the bookmarked music clipsuch as the name of the song, the artist, the album containing the songand so on. Using the electronic music marker device, a user canconveniently recall the music clip information that the user listened toon the radio at a later time without the need to memorize theinformation or wait hopefully for the disc jockey on the radio toprovide that information. In this manner, if the user wants to, forexample, purchase the music album which the user has marked using theelectronic music marker device, the user can easily identify thenecessary information related to the marked music clip from the e-marksprovided by the electronic music marker device.

When the electronic music marker device is connected to the gatewaydevice to retrieve information related to the bookmarked music clips, insome cases, the desired information related to the bookmarked musicclips may not be readily available. In some instances, the user of theelectronic music marker device may receive a message indicating that therequested information is not available, and to request the informationagain at a later time, for example, by connecting the electronic musicmarker device to the gateway device again for connection to the serverterminal.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, a data marking device notification systemincludes a gateway terminal configured to receive one or more datamarks, a playlist provider configured to generate a playlist, and aserver terminal coupled to the gateway terminal configured to receivethe data marks from the gateway terminal, the server terminal furtherconfigured to receive the playlist from the playlist provider and togenerate a user playlist based on the data marks and the receivedplaylist.

A delayed data mark playlist notification system of another embodimentincludes a gateway terminal connected to a data marking device, thegateway terminal configured to receive data marks from the data markingdevice, each data mark including a time stamp and a date stampcorresponding to a music clip broadcast over a registered radio station,and a server terminal coupled to the gateway terminal configured toreceive data marks, and accordingly, to generate a corresponding userplaylist, the user playlist including one or more of a name of thebroadcast music clip, a name of the music clip artist, and the name ofthe music clip album, the server terminal further configured to transmitthe generated user playlist to the gateway terminal.

A method of a further aspect includes receiving data marks, searchingfor playlists corresponding to the received data marks, generating amessage, transmitting the message to a user.

A data marking device notification system of yet another embodimentincludes means for receiving data marks, means for generating aplaylist, and means for receiving the playlist and generating a userplaylist based on the data marks and the received playlist.

A delayed data mark playlist notification system of still anotherembodiment includes means for receiving data marks, each of data markincluding a time stamp and a date stamp corresponding to a music clipbroadcast over a registered radio station, and means for generating auser playlist, the user playlist including one or more of a name of thebroadcast music clip, a name of the music clip artist, and the name ofthe music clip album.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The invention will be more fully understood by reference to thefollowing drawings which are for illustrative purposes only:

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of an electronic music marker deviceplaylist notification system.

FIG. 2 illustrates an electronic music marker device.

FIG. 3 is one embodiment of a database illustration of the bookmarks instorage unit of the electronic music marker device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for illustrating one embodiment of the electronicmusic marker device operation.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for illustrating one embodiment of downloadingdata from the user's electronic music marker device account to theelectronic music marker device.

FIG. 6 is a database illustration of a user account stored in thestorage unit of the server terminal in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a database illustration of user bookmarks stored in thestorage unit of the server terminal in accordance with one embodiment.

FIGS. 8-9 are database illustrations of broadcast transmissions storedin the storage unit of the playlist provider in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for illustrating one embodiment of the serverterminal procedure for electronic music marker device user playlistnotification.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates one embodiment of an electronic music marker deviceplaylist notification system. Referring to FIG. 1, electronic musicmarker device playlist notification system 100 includes electronic musicmarker device 110, cradle-type docking connection 120, gateway terminal130 connected to docking connection 120, server terminal 140 andplaylist provider 150. In one aspect, music marker device 110 may beconfigured to couple to docking connection 120 for transferring datafrom music marker device 110 to gateway terminal 130 for communicationto server terminal 140.

Gateway terminal 130 in one embodiment includes input unit 131, outputsections such as display unit 132 and speakers 133 for outputting text,image, or video data as well as audio data, respectively, input/output(I/O) interface unit 134, clock unit 135, controller 136, and storageunit 137. Storage unit 137 of gateway terminal 130 may include one ormore of an internal or an external storage device such as a hard discdrive (HDD), a CD-RW drive, or a zip drive. Input unit 131 of gatewayterminal 130 may include one of or a combination of a keyboard, a mouse,a touchpad input device and a voice-recognition type input terminalincluding a microphone with corresponding software installed in gatewayterminal 130 for performing input operations by voice commands.Alternatively, input unit 131 may include a touchpad-type screenintegrated with display unit 132 for simultaneously inputting anddisplaying information, where the user can tap the pressure-sensitivescreen using a stylus or the like to enter input commands.

Display unit 132 of gateway terminal 130 may be configured to outputtext, image (for example, in .jpg or gif formats) or video data (forexample, in .avi or .mpeg formats), while speakers 133 may be configuredto output sound data in the form of, for example, .wav file format. Inone embodiment, Display unit 132 may include one of a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD), a plasma-type display, and the like, configured todisplay text, image and video data, or a combined text, image, and videodata. In this manner, gateway terminal 130 in one embodiment may beconfigured to communicate with server terminal 140 over an internetconnection to for data transfer including receiving playlists andtransmitting bookmarks as discussed in further detail below.

Controller 136 of gateway terminal 130 may be coupled to input unit 131and accordingly, may be configured to process the input data receivedfrom input unit 131. Storage unit 137 is similarly coupled to controller136, and may be configured to store inputted data received from inputunit 131 or other data received by gateway terminal 130. Clock 135 alsocoupled to controller 136 may be configured to provide time informationto controller 136 which, in turn, may be stored in storage unit 137 forfurther processing.

Referring back to FIG. 1, I/O interface unit 134 in one embodiment maybe coupled to controller 136, and may be configured to communicate withserver terminal 140 and with music marker device 110 via cradle typedocking connection 120. In one embodiment, I/O interface circuit 134 ofuser terminal 130 may include a communication port configured to connectto the server terminal 140 via the internet 120 through connections suchas, but not limited to, a modem dial-up through an internet serviceprovider (ISP), a DSL or cable modem-type connection, and a T1, IDSN orLAN type connection. To this end, a communication port may be integratedin I/O interface circuit 134, which may include, among others, one of aUSB port, a serial port, a parallel port, an IEEE 1394 communicationport, an IrDA communication port, and a Bluetooth enabled communicationport.

While shown as a computer terminal, within the scope of the presentinvention, gateway terminal 130 may include a personal computer, aninternet access enabled personal digital assistant, a WAP-enabled mobiletelephone, an i-mode mobile telephone configured to operate under thei-mode protocol for wireless internet connection, or a television setenabled for web-TV internet access. Furthermore, while I/O interfaceunit 134 of gateway terminal 130 is shown as coupled to cradle-typedocking connection 120 for communication with music marker device 110which may include one of a cable-type hard wire connection using a USBport, IEEE 1394 port, a serial port, or a parallel port, alternatively,I/O interface unit 134 of gateway terminal 130 may be configured tocommunicate directly with music marker device 110 bypassing connection120, through communication terminals such a wireless interface terminalincluding an IrDA port or a Bluetooth enabled port. In this case, musicmarker device 110 may be provided with a similar complementary wirelessinterface communication port for communication with the gateway terminal130.

Referring back to FIG. 1, server terminal 140 in one embodiment includesI/O interface unit 141, output unit 142, input unit 143, storage unit144 and controller 145. In one embodiment, I/O interface unit 141 may beconfigured to communicate with gateway terminal 130 and playlistprovider 150, while controller 145 coupled to I/O interface unit 141 maybe configured to control the interface communication if I/O interfaceunit 141 with gateway terminal 130 and playlist provider 150. Moreover,controller 145 may be coupled to storage unit 144 to retrieve storeddata as well as to store and update information received from gatewayterminal 130 and playlist provider 150 in storage unit 144. Optionally,controller 145 may be coupled to input unit 143 and output unit 142 forcontrolling information received via input unit 143 and also forcontrolling the output display of information received from input unit143, gateway terminal 130, and playlist provider 150.

In one aspect, storage unit 144 may include one or a plurality ofdatabases for storing, among others, user account information such asuser name, user address, user account name, user contact information anduser billing information. Moreover, storage unit 144 of server terminal140 may further be configured to include user a playlist database, aregistered radio station playlists received from playlist provider 150,and server terminal configuration software and drivers for controllingand operating server terminal 140. In one aspect, server terminalsoftware and the drivers stored in storage unit 144 may be embodied as acomputer program developed using an object oriented language that allowsthe modeling of complex systems with modular objects to createabstractions that are representative of real world, physical objects andtheir interrelationships. However, it would be understood by one ofordinary skill in the art that the various embodiments as describedherein may be implemented in many different ways using a wide range ofprogramming techniques as well as general purpose hardware systems ordedicated controllers.

Referring again to FIG. 1, playlist provider 150 includes, among others,10-minute database 151 and next day database 152 which are periodicallyaccessed and updated by playlist provider 150. In one embodiment,playlist provider 150 may be configured to transmit to server terminal140 information corresponding to a music broadcast from a registeredradio station within 5 to 10 minutes from the actual broadcast, wherethe registered radio station is located within the coverage region ofserver terminal 140. In particular, upon the termination of broadcast ofthe music clip from the registered radio station, playlist provider 150may be configured to query 10-minute database 151 to retrieve datacorresponding to the broadcasted music clip, and to transmit theretrieved data to server terminal 140. In another aspect, playlistprovider 150 may be configured to transmit to server terminal 140information corresponding to a music broadcast from a registered radiostation the following day subsequent to the actual broadcast.

In particular, for music broadcasts from registered radio stations priorto 10 PM, playlist provider 150 may be configured to transmitinformation corresponding to the broadcast music clips to serverterminal 140 by 5 AM (at playlist provider 150) of the following day.Otherwise, for broadcasts after 10 PM, playlist provider 150 may beconfigured to transmit information corresponding to the broadcast musicclips to server terminal 140 after 5 AM or within a predetermined timeframe from the actual broadcast for example, within 24 hours from theactual broadcast, or within a predetermined lapsed time from a given setof broadcast times. For example, for music broadcast between 10 PM and 2AM, playlist provider 150 may be configured to transmit datacorresponding to the broadcast music clips by 12 PM (or within ten hoursfrom the cutoff broadcast time of 2 AM), and for music broadcast between2 AM and 5 AM, playlist provider 150 may be configured to transmit datacorresponding to the broadcast music clips by 5 PM (or within 12 hoursfrom the cutoff broadcast time of 5 AM).

FIG. 2 illustrates an electronic music marker device and cradle-typedocking connection. Referring to FIG. 2, music marker device 110includes a housing comprising body 201 and cap 202. Body 201 is providedwith e-mark button 203 which is configured for user input commands. Alsoprovided on body 201 are display panels 204 a and 204 b which areconfigured to display the number of user inputted e-marks and the typeof registered broadcast station for the corresponding e-marks,respectively. Finally, body 201 includes communication port 205 such asa USB port which is integrated onto body 201 such that, as will bediscussed in further detail below, body 201 may be placed on top ofcradle type connection 120 with communication port 205 capable of beingplugged into the corresponding port on cradle 120.

Cap 202 can be attached to body 201 when access to communication port205 is unnecessary. As shown, cap 202 is provided with a pair ofrelease/lock buttons 206 on either side of cap 202 such that bydepressing release/lock buttons 206 when cap 202 is locked with body201, cap 202 can be released from a locked position and communicationport 205 may be accessed. Furthermore, cap 202 is provided with hole 207substantially at its edge position such that link chain 208 can belooped through hole 207 to allow the user to attach the music markerdevice 110 to a key chain or the like.

Referring back to FIG. 2, cradle-type connection 120 is provided withcradle base 210 substantially flat on its bottom surface (not shown) torest cradle 120 on a flat surface such as a desktop and a book shelf. Onthe other side of the bottom surface of cradle 120 is receiving section211 substantially positioned on the middle of cradle 120, wherecommunication port 212 such as a USB port is provided for connection tocommunication port 205 of the music marker device 110. Also shown inFIG. 2 is cable 213 attached to connection 120 with a communication port214 at its other end. In this manner, cradle 120 may be connected togateway terminal 130 accessing the user's electronic music marker deviceaccount over an internet connection.

Additional detailed information relating to the operation of theelectronic music marker device 110 may be found in pending applicationSer. No. 09/126,007, filed on Jul. 29, 1998 and application Ser. No.09/401,105, filed on Sep. 22, 1999, both assigned to Sony Corporation,joint-assignee of the present application with Sony Electronics, Inc., asubsidiary of Sony Corporation, the disclosures of each of which areherein incorporated in their entirely by reference for all purposes.

FIG. 3 is one embodiment of a database illustration of the bookmarks ina storage unit of the electronic music marker device. Referring to FIG.3, storage unit such as a random access memory (RAM) and/or a read-onlymemory (ROM) may be configured to store device ID unique for each markerdevice 110 in device ID field 310. Additionally, storage unit of markerdevice 110 may also be configured to store bookmarks input by the userin bookmark field 320, with a corresponding date and time information(for example, a time stamp) for the respective bookmarks in date field330 and time field 340, respectively. In this manner, when music markerdevice 110 is connected to server terminal 140 via gateway terminal 130,information stored in marker device storage unit such as the bookmarksand the corresponding date and time stamp information may be transmittedto server terminal 140.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for illustrating one embodiment of the electronicmusic marker device operation. Referring to FIG. 4, at step 410,electronic music marker device 110 detects user's input operation ofe-mark button 203. Then, at step 420, music marker device 110illuminates or flashes a corresponding e-mark display panel 204 a, 204b. As discussed above, in one embodiment, the corresponding e-markdisplay panel 204 a, 204 b may be configured to display time and/or dateinformation of the user's input operation of e-mark button 203.

At step 430, music marker device 110 determines whether all availablee-mark display panels 204 a, 204 b are being used (for example,illuminated or flashing in response to user's input operation of e-markbutton 203). If it is determined that there are e-mark display panels204 a, 204 b available, music marker device 110 waits for further inputoperation by the user at step 410. On the other hand, if it isdetermined at step 430 that all available e-mark display panels 204 a,204 b are in use, then at step 440, electronic music marker device 110generates an output signal to inform the user that music marker device110 has reached its maximum number of e-marks that it can handle, andthe procedure ends. In one embodiment, the output signal from musicmarker device 110 to inform the user that it has reached its maximumnumber of e-marks it can handle may be an audible output signal such asan audible tone via an audio output terminal (not shown). Alternatively,music marker device 110 may be configured to flash all e-mark displaypanels 203 simultaneously for a predetermined period of time to visuallyindicate to the user that it has reached its maximum number of e-marksthat it can handle.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for illustrating one embodiment of downloadingdata from the user's electronic music marker device account to the musicmarker device. Referring to FIG. 5, at step 510, music marker device 110detects a connection to gateway terminal 130 connected to the internet.After the user enters the user's account information and performsnecessary electronic music marker device account access steps at gatewayterminal 130, at step 520, data corresponding to the e-marks (bookmarks)stored in music marker device 110 is transmitted to the user'selectronic music marker device account via gateway terminal 130, and inresponse, the corresponding text and/or image (including video) data areretrieved from server terminal 140 of e-marker.com web site andtransmitted to the user's electronic music marker device account. Then,at step 530, the text and/or image data corresponding to each e-mark isdownloaded onto music marker device 110. At step 540, the downloadedtext and/or image data are displayed on each corresponding e-markdisplay panel 204 a, 204 b on music marker device 110.

When the user disconnects music marker device 110 from gateway terminal130, the termination of the is detected at step 550, and at step 560,music marker device 110 is reset such that previously stored e-marksinputted by the user may be erased from the storage unit of music markerdevice 110, and correspondingly, the illuminated e-mark display panels204 a, 204 b are turned off. The user may then operate e-mark button 203again to input additional bookmarks of music clip broadcasts fromregistered radio and television broadcast stations.

FIG. 6 is a database illustration of a user account stored in thestorage unit of the server terminal in accordance with one embodiment.Referring to FIG. 6, user account database 600 includes user name field610, user marker ID field 620, user account name field 630, location IDfield 640, and feed type field 650. As can be seen, user name field 610is configured to store the name of each registered user of music markerdevice 110, while marker ID field 620 is configured to store thecorresponding unique marker identification code for each registereduser. Additionally, user account name field 630 is configured to store acorresponding user account name generated by server terminal 140 uponuser registration process at e-marker.com web site, or alternatively,provided to server terminal 140 by the user via input unit 131 ofgateway terminal 130 during registration process.

Referring back to FIG. 6, location ID field of user account database 600is configured to store a location identification code for eachrespective registered user, while feed type field 650 is configured tostore the type of data feed (for example, a ten-minute data feed or anext day data feed) assigned to the respective location corresponding toeach registered user. For example, registered user John First whosemusic marker device has marker ID “A11-K21-K43-F23” and whosee-marker.com account user name is “FirstJ” is registered in the SanFrancisco, Calif., as can be seen from the corresponding entry inlocation ID field 640 for John First. Moreover, it can be seen from useraccount database 600 that San Francisco is configured with a 10-minutefeed type. On the other hand, user Jack Green located in Vail, Colo., isconfigured with a next-day feed type data transmission.

As will be discussed in further detail below, depending upon the feedtype assigned for each geographic location, playlist provider 150 isconfigured to transmit information corresponding to broadcast musicclips to server terminal 140 for transmission to the users via gatewayterminal 130 within the assigned time frame (for example, within 10minutes of broadcast in geographic location such as San Francisco,Calif., or alternatively, within a predetermined time frame (next-dayfeed type) for geographic location such as Vail, Colo.

FIG. 7 is a database illustration of user bookmarks stored in thestorage unit of the server terminal in accordance with one embodiment.As discussed above, when the user connects music marker device 110 togateway terminal 130 via connection 120, a connection with serverterminal 140 is established by accessing the user's e-marker.com accountvia gateway terminal 130. Referring to FIG. 7, as can be seen, userbookmark database 700 corresponds to user Matt Sawyer located inAtlanta, Ga., with marker ID “K01-U-23-N45-I67” who has bookmarked sixmusic clips broadcast over two different radio stations, in particular,radio stations with call letters KROK and KCGO.

In one aspect, user bookmark database 700 for each user may be generatedand stored in storage unit 144 of server terminal 140 under the controlof controller 145. In particular, when the user connects to serverterminal 140 and transmits entered bookmarks and the device ID viagateway terminal 130, controller 145 of server terminal 140 may beconfigured to access the user account database 600 to retrieve accountinformation corresponding to the user based on the received device ID,and determine the user's location and the type of feed transmission. Bycomparing the received bookmark date and time stamps with playlist datareceived from playlist provider 150, and based on the determinedlocation and feed type for the user's bookmarks, controller 140 may beconfigured to determine the information corresponding to the user's eachentered bookmark, such as the name of the bookmarked music clip, thename of the artist, and the name of the album. When controller 145 ofserver terminal 140 has completed generating user bookmark database 700based on playlist information received from playlist provider 150 andthe bookmarks received from the user, server terminal 140 may beconfigured to transmit information corresponding to the bookmarked musicclips to the user's account for access by the user through gatewayterminal 130.

FIGS. 8-9 are database illustrations of broadcast transmissions storedin the storage unit of the playlist provider in accordance with oneembodiment. Referring to FIGS. 8-9, broadcast database 800 for radiostation KROK in Atlanta, Ga., includes broadcast time field 810, titlefield 820, artist field 830 and album field 840, and similarly,broadcast database 900 for radio station KCGO in Atlanta includesbroadcast time field 910, title field 920, artist field 930 and albumfield 940. As shown, broadcast time fields 810, 910 are configured tostore the beginning time for each broadcast from the respective radiostations, title field 820, 920 are configured to store the title of themusic clip broadcast at the corresponding broadcast time, and artistfields 830, 930 and album fields 840, 940 are respectively configured tostore the corresponding name of the artist and the album for thebroadcast music clip.

Since Atlanta, Ga. is assigned with a 10-minute feed type transmission,after ten minutes from the conclusion of each music clip broadcast fromthe registered radio stations in Atlanta, for example, radio stationwith call letter KROK, playlist provider 150 is configured to transmitthe information corresponding to the broadcast music clip to serverterminal 140 retrieved from 10-minute feed database 151.

For example, user's first bookmark marked on Jan. 21, 2001 at 1:46 PM(FIG. 3) corresponds to broadcast of a song titled “Fade to Black”broadcast from radio station with call letter KROK (FIG. 7) whosebroadcast began at 1:45 PM (FIG. 8). It can be seen that the broadcastof the song “Fade to Black” from the radio station with call letter KROKterminated at approximately 1:52 PM. Thus, playlist provider 150 may beconfigured to retrieve information corresponding to the broadcast song“Fade to Black” such as the name of the artist (Metallica) and thecorresponding album (Ride the Lightning) from 10-minute feed database151 and transmit the retrieved information to server terminal 140 atapproximately 1:52 PM. Accordingly, when the user connects music markerdevice 110 to access the user's e-marker.com account after bookmarkingthe various broadcast music clips, the user will obtain informationcorresponding to the bookmarked music clip received from server terminal140 at any time after 1:52 PM.

In the case of a geographic location such as Vail, Colo. which isdesignated with a next-day feed type transmission from playlist provider150, while similar playlist databases 800, 900 shown in FIGS. 8 and 9are maintained in next day database 152 of playlist provider 150 foreach registered radio station in Vail, Colo., playlist provider 150 isconfigured to transmit playlist of broadcast music clips to serverterminal 140 only at a predetermined time unlike the case where thebookmarked broadcast music clips originated from an area designated as a10-minute feed type transmission.

In one embodiment, for music broadcasts which began before 10 PM,playlist provider 150 may be configured to transmit the correspondingplaylists for each registered radio station broadcasts by 5 AM of thefollowing day to server terminal. On the other hand, as discussed above,for bookmarked music broadcasts in Vail, Colo. after 10 PM, playlistprovider 150 may be configured to transmit information corresponding tothe broadcast music clips to server terminal 140 after 5 AM or within apredetermined time frame from the actual broadcast, for example, within24 hours from the actual broadcast, or within a predetermined lapsedtime from a given set of broadcast times.

For example, for bookmarked music broadcasts between 10 PM and 2 AM,playlist provider 150 may be configured to transmit data correspondingto the bookmarked broadcast music clips to server terminal 140 by 12 PM(or within ten hours from the cutoff broadcast time of 2 AM), and forbookmarked music broadcasts between 2 AM and 5 AM, playlist provider 150may be configured to transmit data corresponding to the broadcast musicclips to server terminal 140 by 5 PM (or within 12 hours from the cutoffbroadcast time of 5 AM).

FIG. 10 is a flowchart for illustrating one embodiment of the serverterminal procedure for electronic music marker device user playlistnotification. Referring to the Figure, at step 1010, gateway terminal130 connection to server terminal 140 is detected by controller 145 ofserver terminal 140, and at step 1020 bookmarks from music marker device110 are received via gateway device 130 I/O interface unit 134 by I/Ointerface unit 141 of server terminal 140. Then at step 1030, controller145 queries storage unit 144 to determine whether playlistscorresponding to the received bookmarks are available. If it isdetermined at step 1030 that the playlists corresponding to the receivedbookmarks are available, then at step 104, the playlists are retrievedfrom storage unit 144, and at step 1050, server terminal 140 isconfigured to transmit the retrieved playlists to the user'se-marker.com account accessed from gateway terminal 130. In oneembodiment, this is the case for bookmarks generated and received in ageographic location designated for the 10-minute feed type transmission.

On the other hand, if at step 1030 it is determined that the playlistscorresponding to the received bookmarks is not available, then at step1060, server terminal 140 transmits a notification message to the user'se-marker.com account accessed from gateway terminal 130 indicating thatthe requested information corresponding to the bookmarked music clipsare unavailable at the moment, and that the user will be notified whenthe corresponding playlists become available. The user may at this pointoptionally log out of the user's e-marker.com account.

At step 1070, controller 145 of server terminal 140 continues toperiodically query storage unit 144 to determine whether the playlistsfor the bookmarked music clips are available, and when controller 145determines that the corresponding playlists for the user's bookmarkedmusic clips are available, controller 145 in one embodiment isconfigured to retrieve the user's email address stored in user accountdatabase 600 in storage unit 144 and to generate an email notificationto the user with a message indicating that the requested informationcorresponding to the bookmarked music clips is available. Controller 145in one embodiment may also generate a hypertext link to the user'se-marker.com account and attach the generated link to the emailnotification to the user.

Referring back to FIG. 10, at step 1080, server terminal 140 isconfigured to transmit the generated email notification optionally withthe hypertext link to the user's email account. Thereafter, when theuser retrieves the email notification (for example, from gatewayterminal 130) and clicks on the attached hypertext link, user's browser(or any other program or device which allows the user to communicatewith server terminal 140 via gateway terminal 130) is configured to beautomatically redirected to the user's e-marker.com account. In oneaspect, user's account information may be stored as a cookie file instorage unit 137 of gateway terminal 130. Accordingly, user browserredirect automatically logs the user onto the user's e-marker.comaccount and the information corresponding to the user's bookmarked musicclips are displayed on display unit 132 of gateway terminal 130.

Alternatively, in the case where the user has disabled the use of cookiefiles in gateway terminal 130, when the user points the browser to thehypertext link received in the email notification, the user may berequired to input, via input unit 131 for example, the necessaryinformation to log into the user's e-marker.com account, and uponlogging on, the user may view the information corresponding to thebookmarked music clips such as the name oft the music clip, the artistand album for the bookmarked music clip, and optionally, album purchaseinformation such as hypertext links to online vendor web sites and thecorresponding listed sale prices.

In the manner described above, depending upon geographic location ofbookmarked broadcast music clips, users of music marker devices mayaccess information corresponding to the bookmarked music clips nearcontemporaneously to the bookmarked music clip broadcasts, oralternatively, within a predetermined time frame from the bookmarkedmusic clip broadcasts. While playlist provider 150 is described with a10-minute feed database 151 and a next-day feed database 152, within thescope of the present invention, other predetermined feed scheduledatabases may be used. One example of playlist provider 150 includesBroadcast Data Systems located in Kansas City, Mo. which maintains playlists for approximately 1,100 radio stations throughout the UnitedStates. Moreover, 10-minute feed databases in one embodiment may bemaintained for substantially densely populated geographic regionsincluding metropolitan areas such as Boston, Mass., Philadelphia, Pa.,Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Ga., Chicago, Ill., Seattle, Wash., SanFrancisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego, Calif., while next-day feeddatabases may be maintained for substantially less populated areas.

Various other modifications and alterations in the structure and methodof operation of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in theart without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.Although the invention has been described in connection with specificpreferred embodiments, it should be understood that the invention asclaimed should not be unduly limited to such specific embodiments. It isintended that the following claims define the scope of the presentinvention and that structures and methods within the scope of theseclaims and their equivalents be covered thereby.

1. A method, comprising: receiving one or more data marks; searching forone or more playlists corresponding to said received one or more datamarks; generating a message; and transmitting said message to a user. 2.The method of claim 1 wherein each of said received one or more datamarks includes a time stamp and a date stamp information correspondingto one or more broadcast music clips from one or more radio stations. 3.The method of claim 1 further including periodically receiving broadcastmusic playlists
 4. The method of claim 3 further including storing saidreceived broadcast music playlists.
 5. The method of claim 3 whereinsaid periodically receiving step includes one of receiving saidbroadcast music playlists within ten minutes from the termination ofcorresponding music clip broadcasts, and receiving said broadcast musicplaylists within a predetermined elapsed time period.
 6. The method ofclaim 5 wherein said predetermined elapsed time period includes one of12 hours and 24 hours for each day.
 7. The method of claim 1 whereinsaid generated message includes a user playlist including informationcorresponding to said received one or more data marks.
 8. The method ofclaim 1 wherein said generated message includes an email notification.9. The method of claim 8 wherein said email notification includes aplaylist unavailable message.
 10. The method of claim 8 wherein saidemail notification includes a hypertext link attachment.
 11. The methodof claim 10 wherein said hypertext link attachment includes a userplaylist including information corresponding to the one or more datamarks.
 12. The method of claim 11 further including storing said one ormore data marks and said playlists.